Advent-Christmas

December 24, 2009

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

There we are, my brother and I, in the backseat, and the motels with their no vacancy signs. The tension is rising as we drive on and on. It was getting dark so my father decides he will go to the Banff Springs Hotel. It is beyond our price range but maybe they might have a room. No, but we can put you up in the staff house - a tent on a cold night. But the innkeeper had taken pity on us.

There we are, in Jamaica and the rooms are not there because the innkeeper did not make the family move because of death. Steve and I phone around and no rooms. Then one place says we have rooms in part of the hotel under renovations. The innkeeper had taken pity on us.

There they are, Mary and Joseph looking for shelter against the storm. And words we use every Christmas, “No room in the inn.” We have had generations of sermons that have emphasized the surface meaning of the story. We have been called upon to open our closed hearts, to prepare room for the heart of love. We have been asked to birth a generous spirit. Of course, there is truth to this metaphor. It is true that at this time of the year our hearts are touched and we do become more inclusive and welcoming of the stranger. All good stuff from those famous lines.

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Our waiting time is almost over. We end it with two stories of exception.

Isaiah is called by the king. The King is worried. Like many of us he is worried about the wrong things. He has been focused on issues that are transitory and missed the bigger problem waiting there in the future of his kingdom.

Isaiah tells him to use the waiting time to change his vision. To become a king that cares for the people. He has a gift of time to rearrange his priories and if he does not use that gift of time then bigger problems will come. For at the edge of his perception is the gathering of the forces of destruction. The question is whether he will use that time?

It is a story of focus, about what is important. A story of looking for a new path. It is about finding the vision and courage to leave behind dead end ideas. Isaiah is pointing to the power of dreams and visions that bring hope. A vision to work for a better world. It is to be in harmony with the aim of God which is directed to the well being of creation. It is to take this dream seriously, that we can change and respond to real issues rather than those surface and trivial problems. It is to ask what is really important.

Then there the Joseph story. As Leonard Cohen put it, some Joseph slouching toward Bethlehem. This story is full of unhappy campers - Joseph being one. When we read behind the lines, we see how the Gospel writer made Joseph every man. He had to come to terms with the demand placed on him. He didn’t ask for this.

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Advent is a time of reflection. But we are not always sure of why we do it. For many it was not part of the Christmas season. I didn’t grow up with it, so we sang a lot of Christmas carols. We still have that memory, for we often hear, “Why aren’t we singing Christmas carols?” We are like the kids in the back seat on a long trip - “Are we there yet?”

This feeling is very understandable for all around us are reminders of the count down to Christmas - only 11 more shopping days. As well our church history tells us much about our Advent preparation. In the old blue hymn book there were only 2 advent hymns and now in VOICES UNITED we have 34. There is a good rationale for waiting.

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Advent, a period of waiting and preparation, a season of "divine discontent." We wait for the light to break in. For Peace to be felt. In a world of full of noise. With a thousand voices all day long assaulting our ears, we wait in lonely silence. Lighting the candle of Peace we seek that light which restores.

Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in. L. Cohen

John stands there preaching. Can you see him? Yelling at the crowds to flee from the wrath coming. He is inviting people to prepare by a "baptism of repentance." John is calling for a fundamental change of heart, soul, and mind. It is a call for a radical change in behaviour. John preaches the coming realm of God, and this kingdom of God is the state of forgiveness, where sin is forgiven – wiped away.

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Here we go again. Didn’t we hear a similar passage last week? It is because we have. We begin this Advent season with one more mini apocalyptic passage. It seems to be in the air for there are several end of the world stories in the movies and TV this Advent season. In unsettled times we get the theme of the times being out of joint.

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

As we gather at the table where we are hosted by God, we remember the gift of the stable. This night is not simply a narrative of past events, it is a story that speaks of God presence with us, in this world of ours. The story begins with a birth that speaks of the “scandal of particularity.”

We miss this because there is a problem we have with the Christmas story. We know the ending before we even begin. It’s like watching the movie It’s a Wonderful Life when it’s on TV. We already know how it turns out. We see each turn in the Christmas story with such familiarity that we don't appreciate the risk and the love which was required to make it all turn out okay. The story of Mary and Joseph is not a simple story where God has already decided the outcome and everyone is merely doing as they are told. This is a moment full of risking your life and your reputation on a baby. This is a moment full of sacrifice, based on nothing more than a promise. It is a moment of free response.

December 19, 2008

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Christmas pageants. We love them. We know the way we do them brings together many diverse traditions. Shepherds and Magi in one story, for we collapse Matthew and Luke into one narrative. We create one story out two different traditions. They work because we engage in what is called suspicion of disbelieve. We do not worry about the problem of facts - we let go of the view of fact fundamentalism - as this is the way it happened. Instead we feel the story. We let the story as story inform us, and carry us. We watch in the same way we look at all dramas. We watch in the same way we go to movies, read fiction, watch TV; and we know these stories are more true than reality TV. For they tell us a truth deeper than we can imagine. Pageants are enjoyed, for they touch us and take us into a narrative about God loving this world. For that is the truth of them.

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Fear. The word keeps coming up our discussions these days. Fear of crime. Fear about the loss in our RRSPs. Fear of terrorists. It seems we have become afraid of life itself. Fear is used to demonize those different from us. We hear in the rhetoric of politics in the use of the words "controlled by the separatists." Fear causes us to retreat from life and it is a mind killer. It paralyzes us. It prevents us from acting. It isolates us from others.

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Isaiah gives us dramatic and beautiful images of peace that comes from God. In the metaphors of the valleys joining the mountains is the affirmation of the presences of God in the world. The mountains made low is a metaphor that God has come down from home of the gods to be the God of this world.

Isaiah gives us a picture that no place is God forsaken. The highway through the desert is the metaphor of God claiming this earth as the place of God’s love. For the desert is metaphorically the place that is full of terror and chaos - it is seen as God forsaken. So the highway carries the people through times of chaos and terror. God is on the journey with the people as guide and support. There is nothing outside God’s shalom, God’s peace.

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The Rev. Dr. George Hermanson

Did you have a conflicted reaction to the readings? On the one hand they are so timely in November - a sense of absence and starkness. A sense of ennui and estrangement seems to penetrate us. We wonder if our best days are behind us as we experience our current economic and global crises. Yet here we are at the beginning of Advent which is the season of preparation - to prepare ourselves for in-breaking light and hope.